


this is unbelievable!

by heecheondo (HChnD)



Category: Stray Kids (Band), The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: 00z-centric, Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Eric-Centric, Funny, Humor, M/M, NOW that is all., Silly, actually, anyway, besides hwallmin are probably really dating, but it ended up being a bit crack-y tbh, but it was stronger than me, but this is a SERIOUS story!!!!!!!! just silly!!!!!!!, changmin+chanhee just wanna do their goddamn job, despite this being nyukyu this is actually, dont trust seungmin with your secrets, either way, eric is in denial, featuring goldenstrayboyz 00z, felix is an angel, goldenstrayboyz rules, hur hyunjun instead of heo hyunjoon, hyunjin is just kinda. there. sorry, hyunjun instead of hyunjoon, hyunjun+bomin are very whipped, i automatically wrote this in lapslock and when i regretted it was too late, i didn't plan on making skz appear this much nor be this plot-relevant, i mean it's a fic by me i Needed to insert bomin somehow, i said that is all but kept adding more tags rip, i tried my best and suffered to bring it to life, in my defence capitalism sucks, jisung is pinning over hyunjin, lapslock, like always tbh are yall even fazed by that at this point, more specifically - Freeform, please don't give up on me, please don't neck me for the lack of proper capital letters, same goes for our golden maknae bomin, sohn instead of son, sue me or sumn, sunwoo is done with everyone, thank you., that is all please give this a go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-09-29 20:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20441672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HChnD/pseuds/heecheondo
Summary: in which the strictest teacher of their school appears with an engagement ring and none of his students believes that there's someone willing to marry him. but eric had decided to take this mistery into his own hands and discover who the crazy man is.





	this is unbelievable!

**Author's Note:**

> [leaving a long breath] fucking finally, this is finished. only god, if he's real, and my closest friends knows how much i suffered to get this done, the lost braincells, and also life trying to bring me down......... but finally!!!!!!! this is done. woah  
the idea came to me when i tried to fulfil a prompt from [tbz prompt bot](https://twitter.com/thepromptz) that, despite still giving direct credits to them, grew too apart from the original post. it also says it's set in university but i decided to change to high school because it made more sense to me. i kinda wanted to explore with my writing and make the main subject of the fic (nyukyu relationship) not exactly the focus of the story, but rather something that is seen by someone from outside, but because of that i ended up developing too much on eric and his friends' own issues as he/they kept their eyes on the teachers, so it diverged a LOT from the prompt. sorry for that... but hopefully you'll still like it as much as i loved writing it!  
oh, and special thanks for sol who read the first 6,7k-ish of this, and natasha who also read the first 6,7k-ish of this as well as gave me feedback when i had over 14k and encountered a huge hole/problem to fix that stopped me to properly finish it!!!!! love you both!!!  
  
NOTE: _쌤/ssaem_ is short for teacher (선생님/seonsaengnim) in korean, and it's a casual way of using the title. bomin is the only one who doesn't use it because he's a nerd. i also did try to portrait a korean high school, but i don't think i did well at that. sorry  
on a less important note, here's the birthday order from the main eight 00z (goldenstrayboyz) because i often use the word older/younger/oldest/youngest when they're all on the same scene and not everyone is a freak like me who knows these by memory: hur hyunjun > hwang hyunjin > kim sunwoo > choi bomin > han jisung > lee felix > kim seungmin > sohn eric  
lastly but not least, title from [victon's best title track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqfGcA7wA6E). two fics in a row where i use victon's songs on title. it's to redeem myself for being an alice since debut but never writing for them. stan victon yall >:(

“any other questions, students?”

the high schoolers gave each other a glare, waiting for someone to speak up anything, but it never came. the teacher just gave them a quiet smile, grabbing his stuff. “then this will be all. don’t forget that for our next class you have to read pages 32 to 40 of your history books, we’ll start class by discussing on the matter, alright?”

“yes, changmin-ssaem!”

“okay, then”, the adult laughed. “see you on next class!”

the students watched as the teacher left the room, patiently waiting for the next teacher. eric left a long sigh. “ugh, math. i rather death.”

“math isn’t that terrible”, one of his friends, sunwoo, spoke. “the problem is the teacher. he’s the devil.”

“we could skip his class and go straight to lunch. i’m so hungry”, he pouted.

his friend agreed. “why is his class right before lunch break? he loves making us stay in class even after it ended. truly the devil.”

“i like chanhee-ssaem”, hyunjun said with a shrug.

“you _ what_? how can you like him when he’s the worst”, the other said, voice cracking a bit at the first question, earning nods from the youngest (who was also laughing at said voice crack, but sunwoo ignored that). 

“just answer his questions when he asks you directly and stay quiet otherwise, then you’ll know”, he answered calmly. 

“i’m _ always _ quiet.”

“yeah, _only _when the teacher asks you stuff. and with eric poking you constantly you often laugh loudly when he’s explaining stuff too!”

the youngest took offence on it. “hey, that rarely happens! i only wanted to show him this one funny--”

suddenly all their classmates, who moments ago were chatting as loudly as the trio, stopped talking, and eric knew exactly what that meant. he shut up, quietly turning to their classroom door, looking as the math teacher was staring at them from it, face without any expression. he was completely serious as he waited for the students to stay the quietest possible, he had always said he’d never enter and start class if they didn’t remain silent, and that he’d hold them on before lunch break for the same amount of time he had to wait. he really was awful. 

“students”, he simply said, walking towards his table. “good morning.”

“good for who”, sunwoo hissed under his breath. eric giggled. but, gladly, none of the sounds seemed to reach the adult’s ears. they didn’t want to know what’d happen if he had heard them.

“i assume you did your homework, right?”, he asked, receiving a monotonous _ yes _from the students. “good. i’ll pick some of you to explain to the rest of the class.”

sunwoo groaned.

the teacher glared directly at him. the teacher and all the other students nearby. “sunwoo-goon, are you _that_ ecstatic to tell your classmates how to solve these problems?”

the boy forced a smile. “sure. you know how much i love your subject, ssaem.”

“flattery will get you nowhere, sunwoo-goon. now”, he said, handing him the chalk, “if you may.”

eric sighed. it’ll be a long class.

* * *

“why does he hate me so much?”, sunwoo hissed during lunch. “the only thing i did was leave a short, irrational groan. it’s not that deep!”

“start holding in your breath during the entire class next time”, jisung, a boy their age but from another class, told him while laughing. “that’s what i do. he doesn’t even see me!”

“he’s not even _that_ bad”, it was seungmin who said. “you’re all just too dumb, and he doesn’t have the patience for dumb kids. i like him and i bet he likes me too.”

“you’re too much of a suck up, playing the perfect student, to see him being cruel to everyone else”, hyunjin pointed out at his best friend. “_every _ teacher loves you. chanhee-ssaem liking you doesn’t mean anything, it just proves that you’re the devil’s son.”

“okay, let me correct myself”, he cleared his throat. “you’re all too unlikeable and no one likes spending a second with you.”

jisung laughed at him, putting an arm around the younger. “this is why you’re our friend.”

“_sadly_. someone has to”, he said with a monotonous tone but was soon laughing with them. there were no hard feelings. “anyway, hyunjun likes him too. why isn’t he the devil’s son as well? why is that just me?”

“do we really _ need _to tell you why?”, jisung said with a serious face.

“let’s just agree that no one’s the devil’s son”, felix, the _ ethereal _ lee felix, finally spoke. eric caught himself smiling at his best friend’s words, he really was too good, too pure for the rest of the group.

hyunjun laughed at that. “thanks, ‘lix, as expected you’re the only one who deserves rights in this table. but well, since we’re talking about chanhee-ssaem, did none of you notice?”

sunwoo raised his brow. “notice what?”

“his new ring? none of you saw it?”

jisung frowned. “that teacher has a lot of rings. it’s hard to notice. who would even--”

“ah, i _ knew _there was something different with him! i told you all but you didn’t believe me”, hyunjin pouted at his classmates. “i said there was something different on him, something that made him more charming, but i couldn’t tell what. and you told me it was only my imagination, how dare you!”

“of course the two-hyun would notice something fashion related”, seungmin rolled his eyes, smiling at them.

“it’s not fashion though?”, the older of the two said with a smirk. “it wasn’t _ any _ring. it was an engagement ring.”

they all showed vivid reactions, from a simple gasp (felix and sunwoo) to a loud squeak (jisung and eric).

“there is _no _ way”, seungmin said, still smiling, but this time it was one of disbelief. “who would even fall in love with that teacher?”

“didn’t you say you like him, what, five seconds ago?”, hyunjin asked the younger.

he frowned offended at that. “i like him as a teacher, not like that. it’s different.”

“there is a human being who loves that teacher enough to willingly want to marry that man?!”, sunwoo nearly shouted. “you must have imagined it.”

“i have not!”, the oldest at the table refuted. “it’s real. chanhee-ssaem is engaged to someone.”

“who would be the crazy man?”, jisung wondered out loud. every student knew that their math teacher was gay, and he was lucky that he didn’t lose his job once he came out, even if some parents did try to make him resign. the principal had protected and stood by him, but there were rumours that he, too, wasn’t that straight either, so maybe that was it. those were only rumours though, so they didn’t know for sure, not as certain as their teacher. “i can’t imagine anyone willing to endure him full time.”

eric shrugged. “whoever that man is he must have endless patience. he must be a fallen angel of some sorts.”

his six friends seemed to go into a consensus, nodding at his words and finishing the conversation and moving onto another topic. however, it tingled the younger’s curiosity. he suddenly was _dying_ to know who it was. 

so, once he finished his lunch, he excused himself to the others and get up of their table, saying some random excuse. 

“what the hell was that about?”, sunwoo asked him after getting dragged from lunch. he had always been a fast eater, so when the american saw that he had already eaten, he didn’t think twice before grabbing his arm and pulling him around campus. “where are we even going?”

“teacher’s room.”

“why?” 

“do you not want to know who is chanhee-ssaem's fiancée?”

he scoffed. “do i look _ slightly _interested in that teacher? be honest.”

eric rolled his eyes. “come on! i’m not that interested about him either but doesn’t that makes you curious? it's a mystery for us to solve!”

“eric. we _ just _ left his class, and soon self-study starts. i’d rather deal with my math problems by mys--”

the older boy stopped speaking at his companion crashed into a body, bouncing backwards. sunwoo put a hand on his face as he laughed at him.

“oh, my, are you okay?”

the boy turned to the person he had just run over, smiling as he recognized them. “changmin-ssaem! i’m so sorry, i should have looked where i was going to.”

“indeed, you should have”, his friend said as he laughed some more. asshole. 

the teacher smiled at eric. “don’t be sorry, i should have paid more attention as well. but i wonder, what are you two doing here, during lunch too?”

“that’s _quite_ the question”, sunwoo said, forcing a smile.

his friend rolled his eyes. “nothing much. i just-- we just wanted to check up on a thing with chanhee-ssaem.”

his older friend frowned at that but remained quiet, fake smile still on his lips.

“oh, really? well, you just missed him. he left a while ago.”

“ah, what a shame. well, that will be all, let’s go eric-ah.”

“wait!! ssaem, do you know if he is dating? or about to marry someone? or anything of the sorts?”

changmin’s reactions were slow, with his eyes going wider to his cheeks and ears growing redder in a few moments, but safe for that, he was still, mute, staring at the two students. “uhm. i, well, maybe i do, but why are you asking this?”

“it’s because sunwoo is deeply in love with chanhee-ssaem and he needs to know before making a move.”

“hey!”

that made the older man laugh, covering his mouth with one of his hands. and it was then when eric noticed that it had a ring, not on his thumb, not on his pinky, but on _the_ ring finger. changmin had a ring on his ring finger. “well, i’m sorry to say that, but regardless if he’s available or not, he’s not going to date a high schooler”, he said softly, smiling like the sun. “well, i should get going, so, see you two in class next week.”

sunwoo slapped his shoulder the moment the adult was out of their sight. “dude! what the hell was that excuse? i’m never going to look changmin-ssaem in the eye again”, he sighed. “escaping to europe sounds like an amazing plan right now.”

“sunwoo, shut up with your nonsense. haven’t you seen it? it’s _him_.”

“what?!”

“chanhee-ssaem and changmin-ssaem are an item. a couple. one about to marry!”

the older kept staring at him as if he had grown a second head. “you’re kidding.”

“he had a ring! on _the_ finger!”

“…it could be a coincidence. there is no way those two are together.”

“but think about it! only someone as pure and patient as changmin-ssaem would endure chanhee-ssaem’s devilish personality. it makes sense!”

sunwoo facepalmed, trying his best to calm down and not snap. “can i _please_ go to my self-study period now?”

eric stared at his friend with a pout but then gave in, nodding at him. “sure. i probably should go too.”

“and let this whole engagement thing go, too.”

his pout became bigger but he also agreed with the older. it was none of his business, and he was a high school senior. he should have other priorities than two of his teachers possibly marrying.

* * *

“i’m telling you, felix. changmin-ssaem is the one chanhee-ssaem is marrying!”

the slightly older boy laughed at the other end of the line. the american boy’s heart did a little flip. “_how can you be so sure?_”

“well, we all agree that if there is someone willing to date chanhee-ssaem, he must be super patient and kind to balance his devilish personality. and that’s changmin-ssaem! besides, they’re the only two teachers to be wearing engagement rings and haven’t before. it adds up!”

“_or_”, felix tried, “_they’re getting married to other people who aren’t our teachers._”

eric dramatically paused, mouth hanging open for a few seconds before he closed it. “i had not thought of that possibility.”

his best friend once again laughed, this time louder, and thus his heart flipped faster. “_well, i guess we’ll never know until we ask. maybe you’re right._”

“i can’t ask them… i have to find out on my own.”

“_why?_”

he opened his mouth to reply but quickly closed it again. he didn’t know for real why he couldn’t ask them. maybe because chanhee was quite terrifying. maybe because he liked mysteries and solving them. maybe both. “it’s probably quite evasive for a student ask that kind of thing. and what if it’s something they want to keep it lowkey, at least for the time being? i don’t know, i don’t think they’d enjoy people asking. especially me. i nearly failed math and i’m not doing that great in history too, so.”

“_wait, _what_? but you said your __grades were doing great!_”

oh… damn. yeah, maybe he did lie to his best friend about his grades because maybe, just maybe, he wanted to impress him. don’t quote him on that though. “oh, yeah? haha, how weird. i don’t remember saying that.”

“_eric._”

“felix.”

the australian kid sighed. “_you know if you need a push i’m more than willing to help with your studies._”

“yeah but--”

“_no buts! i’ve even suggested us to study together, but then you said, and i quote, _ ‘it’s fine because my grades are good enough!’_. really, why did you say that if you were about to fail?_”

“but i didn’t fail.”

“_you just admitted that you nearly did though._”

it was eric’s turn to sigh. he did say that, but because he knew that if he went to study with felix he’d not actually study at all, instead, he’d get lost in the adorable constellation that was printed on his cheeks. and also, if he didn’t know that he was a bad student, maybe he wouldn’t pity him or think he’s stupid and maybe his minimal chance of something wouldn’t be that minimal.

whatever, this wasn’t about him and his totally-not-a-crush on his best friend. it was about chanhee and his fiancée. “it’s fine, i’ll study like i never had before, but only after confirming my suspects of our teachers. operation changchan.”

“_please not that name_”, felix cringed at that. “_it makes me think of chris-ssaem._”

“…our english teacher? why?”

the older took some time before replying. “_because his korean name is chan and, well, our p.e teacher is changbin-ssaem. my classmates think that there is _something_ going on with the two of them and keeps shipping them, ugh. it’s a bit embarrassing if i’m being honest but they are quite cute so i don’t know, maybe they_ are_ onto something? still creepy though, the fact that they ship our teachers and call them changchan everywhere they go, you know? so. yeah._”

“that’s very weird”, he admitted, to which the other hummed in agreement. “well, we don’t have to give them a name. it’s still my top priority though. operation discover who chanhee-ssaem is marrying to.”

“_shouldn’t your priority be your studies?_”

“but i really wanna unveil this first!”

“_eric…_”, the older started speaking but soon cut himself. he knew how impulsive he was, and he also know how hard it was to convince him that an idea he was deeply attached to was _ bad_. “_you know what, i’ll help you._”

he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “you will _ what_?!”

“_help you. with discovering who chanhee-ssaem is engaged to, and if it really is changmin-ssaem. but only…_”, he paused for a couple of seconds, “_if you start studying with me afterwards._”

“felix…”, he started but was soon cut.

“_you can’t get _this_ invested in your teachers’ relationship that might not even exist! but since there’s nothing i can do to stop you, might as well help you solve it quickly so you can let it go faster._”

he pouted. he knew he had a point but he didn’t really want to start studying with the older. he’d gay panic in front of him and he didn’t want him to see that side of his. but he was cornered, and there was no way he could lie about his grades again, not now that he slipped the fact that they are, in fact, bad. he couldn’t think of anything to tell him no.

“_you’re not thinking of an excuse to turn me down again, are you?_”, felix said from the other side of the call and, by the tone of his voice, eric assumed he was smiling. or smirking. thinking now it was probably the latter, teasing his best friend over the few seconds of silence he ended up wasting by doing exactly what he had assumed.

“no”, he said after more seconds of silence. “fine! i’ll study with you. there’s no need to help me with this mystery though, one man is more than enough to solve it.”

the australian laughed at that. “_sure. you’re good at that stuff, so probably by tomorrow you’ll know it all_.”

“damn right i am!”, eric replied with a smile. “anyway, i should probably let you sleep. see you tomorrow?”

“_you know it. you should sleep too, so you’re in shape for your, ahem, operation._”

“yeah, yeah. night, ‘lix.”

“_night, ‘ric-ah._”

* * *

“good morning students”, changmin cheerfully said as he entered the classroom. every student had their eyes on him, especially eric. but he kept looking at him for a reason different from his colleagues. he kept staring at his hand, the ring staring back at him, reflecting the room’s lighting. it made _complete_ sense if he was the one chanhee was marrying to. despite being opposites, and despite never really seeing them interact, it made sense in his mind. opposites do attract, after all, and their classes were one after the other. they probably met each other on the halls, and on the teacher’s room as well. it had to be him.

“--ric-goon? eric-goon?”, the kid blinked quickly upon hearing his name leave his teacher’s mouth, looking confused at him. the adult simply smiled. “do you have anything to say?”

“say? about… what?”

“the debate? about the causes of the first sino-japanese war, its end and how it reflected on our country? i did ask you to read your history books for today’s class, didn’t i?”

it was a simple question and the teacher has his sympathetic smile, but it still made eric embarrassed for not doing what was requested. “oh. i maybe… forgot to read it…?”

changmin kept smiling at his student, but it was noticeable it fell a little. “well, it’s a shame you can’t fully enjoy today’s class but i will let it slide this time. i hope that won’t happen again though, okay?”

“okay”, he quickly said to his teacher as he moved to another student.

“dude? are you okay? you never _not_ do something changmin-ssaem asks”, hyunjun asked after poking him. it was true, eric really adored their history teacher, and also his subject, and so he would always pay the most of attention and do every task perfectly. which did not mean it reflected positively on his grades.

“he’s busy thinking about chanhee-ssaem”, it was sunwoo who butted in, biting down a laugh.

the older didn’t get it. “what does not reading our history book have to do with our math teacher?”

eric sighed. “changmin-ssaem could be his fiancée.”

he gasped loudly, his eyes shining. “are you for real--!”

“shut up, hyunjun-ah!”, the youngest hissed. “yeah. i mean, no, i’m not entirely sure, i still need to--”

“he _does_ have a ring! oh my god, eric-ah, you might be onto something.”

“or he could be hella wrong”, sunwoo rolled his eyes. “can you two stop gossiping, by the way? we’re still in class. _changmin-ssaem’s_ class, you know, the one you’re gossiping about?”

“i need to tell this to hyunjin. and seungmin too!”, hyunjun said, getting his phone from his bag.

the second oldest frowned. “you can’t use your phone in class.”

“our teacher doesn’t mind.”

eric took a deep breath. “i’m not even sure if it really is him. you can’t _ tell _them--”

“woops, already sent it”, he said, grinning, while showing his kakao talk. yeah, it was right there, at the bottom of the screen, _changmin-ssaem is chanhee-ssaem's fiancée kkk can yall believe that_. 

he took another breath, feeling a headache coming. “well. i hope they don’t believe you. or that they’ll ignore you.”

sunwoo hummed. “aren’t they having classes with chanhee-ssaem right now? i doubt they even opened the message. too risky.”

“yeah, eric-ah, calm down. it’s not like it’s going to spread to the entire school--”

“changmin-ssaem, is it true that you’re marrying chanhee-ssaem?”, a girl - chaewon, eric recalled - suddenly asked the teacher, mid debate.

the adult quickly blinked, cheeks quickly getting red. “excuse me?”

“uhm. are you not? i just got a forwarded text about it.”

the american kid stared at his older friend, who was now gulping down. “_hur hyunjun_.”

in the meantime, changmin tried to keep his calm, walking towards the student and clearing his throat. “i hate doing this, but phone, please. you know you can’t text in class.”

“so it’s true?”, she asked again, giving him the device.

he took a deep breath. “well, heejin-yang, do you have anything to add onto the debate?”

the girl turned his attention to the teacher before cleaning her throat. she was really smart and could speak for hours. the students were sure that was the reason why he picked her this time, so the subject would die.

it obviously didn’t. especially once class ended and a very serious faced chanhee entered the class, everyone quietly stared at him, expecting his first words. they were _all _sure that it had already reached him, considering how fast it had spread and, knowing his temper, he wouldn’t be pleased to be the subject of gossips. however, his class had started normally, with all eyes carefully and silently on the teacher as he explained the subject, apparently unbothered.

“uhm, chanhee-ssaem…?”

the adult stopped his explaining dramatically, turning to look at the boy with his scary, serious face. “yes, jaemin-goon?”

“i just wanted to ask if--”, he trailed off, looking around the room. he was nervous, every single student was too. they didn’t need to ask or be a close friend of his to know what he was going to ask, they all wanted to make the same question but was too afraid of doing it. if changmin, their lovely teacher, had reacted in a way he did… imagine the fury that could be brought by their math teacher. thinking of that, the kid gulped down. “if you could repeat how to solve the previous problem?”

chanhee gave him a small relieved smile. “of course.”

* * *

“how could you spread it to all our school?!”, eric ask-shouted at seungmin once they sat beside each other during lunch. “i’m not even sure if they’re _ actually _getting married to each other. but now everyone in the entire school thinks so!”

seungmin raised his hands and shoulders, trying to look reassuring. “it’s fine! no one knows who started it.”

“that’s not the issue? what if they are _ not _engaged to each other?”

“oh, so you didn’t get that confirmed yet?”, felix asked his best friend. “i thought you did after it blew up.”

he shook his head, sighing. “no, i didn’t. i only told hyunjun here that i had thought of the _ possibility _ of his fiancée being changmin-ssaem and he decided to spread it as if it was the absolute truth.”

“and i only told hyunjin and seungmin. that is _ not _spreading it”, he pouted.

sunwoo snorted. “if that helps you sleep at night.”

the australian boy nodded in understatement. “so, operation discover who chanhee-ssaem is marrying to is still happening?”

eric sighed, nodding at his best friend.

“i’m sorry, what?”, jisung asked in disbelief after gulping down whatever food was on his mouth. “operation _ what_?”

“operation discover who--”

“felix, my lovely friend”, the youngest at the table said hurriedly, faking a grin. “if you care for me you won’t finish that.”

he gulped, mildly frightened. “it’s confidential.”

“felix lee yongbok, as your hyung for one day i order you to tell me.”

sunwoo cringed. “pretty sure that’s _ not _how it works.”

“you called me by my full name, now i really am not telling you any details about it”, the younger rolled his eyes. eric raised one of his hands, getting a high five from his best friend.

“so that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”, jisung pouted. “i will remember that.”

hyunjun groaned. “this is why i dislike virgos.”

sunwoo tilted his head, staring at his best friend with an amused face. “friendly reminder that you’re _dating_ a virgo.”

“he’s choi bomin”, he shrugged as if that was reason enough to exclude him. and maybe, for him, it was.

“you said you like me though”, felix questioned the older.

the table went silent after that. everyone who was sitting with him was sure that the australian kid would either pout and stay quiet or be fake-but-probably-not-_that_-fake-offended and complain about being hurt, but before he could decide which it would be this time, they all heard a sigh from someone who until then was just watching. “why am i friends with you all, anyway?”

“seungmin, it’s _ your _fault we’re having this conversation to begin with!”, hyunjin rolled his eyes and sighed. “you could have simply laughed at hyunjun’s text and leave it be, you know, as i did. but no, you _had_ to share it.”

“_obviously_.”

“see?”, hyunjun spoke again. “virgos are the worst. felix is the _only_ exception.”

“and bomin?”

“he is his own person who deserves rights even if he has an ugly map”, he rolled his eyes. “sunwoo, for the love of god, stop bringing my boyfriend into this as if it’d stop me from hating every other virgo that isn’t him or felix.”

the freckled boy proudly smiled at that, deciding to fill his cheeks with his lunch. hyunjun’s best friend, however, snorted at his reaction. “whatever.”

the youngest rolled his eyes. “i’m never sharing anything with any of you again except for felix.”

“just say he’s the love of your life and go”, sunwoo deadpanned.

the duo gave each other a glare and, soon after, blushed. “he is my _ best friend_! and that’s it.”

“can’t i be the love of your life _ and _your best friend?”, the older asked innocently, a pout forming on his very pretty lips that would be extremely cute if his mouth wasn’t with some food in it.

still, eric gulped down, blushing even more. wow, heart, chill for a second. “uhm. i. guess? whatever, let’s eat this soon so we can study.”

“sure, babe”, the older joked in a quiet voice, but it still made the other kid blush. 

jisung was itching to tease the two of them a bit more, but then a group of girls came to their table to talk to hyunjin and he couldn’t help but stare at them. eric knew he wanted them gone, he didn’t like how popular with the opposite gender he was. even if one of them was yeji, his twin sister, and that at least half of the rest were well-known lesbians, it still made the younger stiff. the american rolled his eyes and asked himself how the other hadn’t realized about his very obvious crush by now.

“so, are we continuing with the operation then? you know which one”, felix asked in english, ignoring the fact that out of everyone at their table, well… _ everyone _ was quite good at the language. maybe not fluent, but they would probably understand most of their conversation either way. and considering the way seungmin choked on his drink, the way hyunjin paused on his sentence for a while and the way that both hyunjun and sunwoo turned at them, that was exactly what happened.

regardless, eric simply nodded at his words. “meet me at self-study.”

* * *

once they sat down the school’s library, eric joined both his palms in front of his face, expression serious. “how can we confirm that they are indeed getting married without making it too obvious? i’m accepting suggestions.”

his australian friend rested his chin on his fist, face showing confusion. “you… have no idea?”

“nope.”

“but this plan _ is _ yours.”

“yes. and like all my other plans, i improvise. the plan won’t fail if i don’t make one in the first place.”

he stared as felix tried hard not to roll his eyes, sighing quietly. “i can’t believe you at times”, he said under his breath. “okay then. so you don’t want to be direct and ask them, right?”

“right. they could always evade the question and affect the operation's final result. besides, after the whole rumour thing”, he frowned at the memory from a while ago, “they’re probably tired of people asking.”

“point taken”, he nodded. “so you want to follow them around or something like that?”

the younger shook his head. “no, that’s creepy. i was thinking on _ observing _ them.”

“because that’s very different and totally not creepy.”

“yes!”, eric said slamming a hand onto the table until he realized where he was and composing himself. “i’m glad you understand me, best friend.”

this time, felix didn’t even try to stop himself from rolling his eyes and facepalming. “why not make less direct questions instead?”

eric raised a single brow at him. “i’m listening.”

“you said you think they’ll evade the question if asked directly, right?”, he asked, waiting for the other to nod so he could continue. “then make questions that don’t seem as related, for example what they like in a person? and then pressure a bit about a lover, who knows. maybe their guard will lower a bit and they’ll say something that will be useful for solving this mystery.”

the younger put some thought at it, head bouncing automatically. “that sounds like a good initial plan, but i don’t think they’re going to answer it anyway because they know people want to know about the marriage”, he sighed. “they’ll probably know right away it’s about it once the word lover leaves our mouths. unless it’s asked by someone who would never get interested in rumours. someone they believe is a perfect student who only cares about their grades, who is always doing all homework and aces every subject… a responsible nerd who is loved by every teacher and--”

“excuse me”, they heard someone speak on top of their heads. the duo shared a glare, smiling to each other, before staring at bomin, the golden student. great timing. “you two are being really loud and this is a library.”

“sorry, mister council president. we will shut up so you can make out with your boyfriend in the foreign languages section”, felix smirked at that.

at that, the boy who was previously standing sat down, face as red as a tomato. “shut up, i was _ not _making out with hyunjun in the foreign languages section.”

“it’s fine, we’ll keep your secret safe.”

“as if most students who are friends with both of you didn’t know about it already”, the younger chuckled.

“whatever”, the other rolled his eyes, still blushing. “but don’t let the teachers know. they’d never let me live through it.”

eric frowned. “why?” 

“because i’m choi bomin, current student council president and three times class representative. do you know how many times you can be class representative in high school?”

“three times?”

“exactly, eric. they think i can _ never _ deviant. i already had to hear enough jokes about becoming a rebel just because i got a boyfriend as if hyunjun would convert me or something”, he sighed way too loud. “‘_woah, bomin is interested in something other than books? will he _finally_ get a grade lower than 96?_’, as if dating would stop me from being on top of the class, _ please_.”

“or maybe the problem is that you’re dating mister hur i-shall-never-study hyunjun but who knows”, the youngest said quietly, glad that he was unheard. despite the older not being a great student and the teachers knowing it very well, to his boyfriend’s eyes he was enough and would fight anyone who told him otherwise.

meanwhile, felix nodded nonstop as the other kept rambling about his academic life and how, despite being a dream to other students, was not _ perfect _and did not mean that bomin was a studying machine, but his best friend knew that he had not heard a word. not that he did it on purpose, he was just too focused on his own thoughts. “so, you are the teacher’s pet? every single one’s?”

“what? no!”, he accidentally exclaimed and then proceeded to shush himself. the american boy tried to contain his laughter at the scene. "they just like me and have high expectations from me."

“and thinks you’re a serious student”, felix added.

“well, yeah… but that’s a fact. i _ am _a serious student.”

“that’s interesting.”

“that’s _ very _ interesting, ‘lix-ah”, he repeated the other’s words, smirking at the third one at the table. “hey, bomin, could you do us a favour?”

before opening his mouth, the boy stared at both blonds a couple of times, face with a mix of confusion and worry. “why do i have the feeling that i’m not gonna like whatever you two are going to come up with?”

“it’s nothing really bad.”

“yeah, just ask chanhee-ssaem what his type is for us.”

"and i would do that why?”, bomin questioned them until it hit him. “oh, so you two are the ones who started the engaging rumours! chanhee-seonsaengnim and changmin-seonsaengnim’s.”

“what? that was only eric, i’m innocent!”

“hey! that is not true, the one who spread it was your untouchable boyfriend”, the american rolled his eyes. “wait, slow down. choi bomin knows rumours? i’m shocked.”

in response, he scoffed. “i'm not deaf.”

“besides, he is dating _ me_”, hyunjun appeared from behind eric, sitting beside his boyfriend and kissing his cheek. “you took too long to come back so i came looking for you.”

“gross”, eric said. 

felix hit his shoulder. “they’re in love, let them be and focus on the operation in hands.”

“right. my bad.”

hyunjun laughed at the duo. “you’re still into that? please grow up. it’s our senior year.”

the australian boy crossed his arms. “no. we want to discover it and we need to do it soon since _ someone _decided to spread fake news.”

“you’re the one who did it anyway. back us up.”

“i did _ not _spread it. seungmin did.”

eric ignored his point. “and he heard it from who?”

“if that’s the case then _ you’re _the one who truly spread it all around the school”, the older rolled his eyes. “since, you know, i heard it from you and you’re the one who got into the conclusion that they are maybe marrying each other.”

he wanted to refute how that made no sense, even if it did, because he didn’t tell him for the purpose to create a fuss, especially since he didn’t even want to tell him in the first place. but bomin beat him onto the speaking, frowning his forehead and staring at him. “so they are not going to marry each other?”

“we don’t know”, the australian was the one who replied as he sighed. “not for sure, at least.”

“hence why we need your help”, his best friend spoke, proceeding to ignore his classmate. “our teacher would never assume it’s because of the rumours if you're the one asking.”

“and why would i do that? what’s there for me?”

“baby, please tell me you are not considering it”, the oldest deadpanned at him. bomin at least had the decency to look guilty for being curious about the duo’s weird shenanigans, but didn’t defend himself nor replied to his boyfriend.

“come on, bomin-ah. are you not curious about how those two got together?”

“_if _ they got together”, hyunjun rolled his eyes.

“yes, that. so, please?”, eric tilted his head. “they will never assume you’re questioning them because of the rumours.”

surprisingly, the council president really did seem to consider it. his older boyfriend stared at him, half in anticipation and half in disbelief. “well. i’d be lying if i said i wasn’t slightly intrigued about their engagement.”

“there we go!”, felix exclaimed and then proceeded to be shushed by the other.

“but i would need to skip some of my self-study to do it. i’m not sure if that’ll be worth it, i never did it once in my entire life.”

eric turned to look at his best friend, sharing a glare, before turning back to the other. “except when you make out with hyunjun in the foreign languages section of the library, of course.”

the student council went scarlet at that. “okay, you got me. i’ll do it, but never _ ever _say a word about this outside this table.”

hyunjun shook his head. “i can’t believe you, babe.”

“what? i have a reputation to keep. and despite hating people having me in a pedestal it’s even more annoying when people act like i am a studying bot. besides”, he turned to his lover, voice going lower. “does it not make you interested that our angelical history teacher might be together with our math teacher out of all other people?”

“not really.”

“really?”, eric refuted. “come on, hyunjun-ah. doesn’t it make you wonder how there is someone willing to marry the one teacher who is also known as the devil himself?”

“devil is a bit too harsh”, bomin started slowly. “but. yeah, he does have a point. chanhee-seonsaengnim is extremely strict and probably a pain in the ass to be with until the end of one’s life. changmin-seonsaengnim is really, _ really _calm and sweet. even if with this whole opposites attract thing… how did that even happen?”

felix frowned. “you do know that you, the biggest nerd of the school, is dating someone who probably never opened a book once in his all three of his high school years, right?”

“don’t talk about my boyfriend as if he was lazy and illiterate.”

“he’s right though”, the older said casually. 

“but you’re not lazy and illiterate. you’re a brilliant mind who does not need to study as much as the rest of the students.”

“anyway!”, eric exclaimed, rolling his eyes. why do they keep going off-topic, _himself included_? he was sure they spent way too long with this conversation of theirs. “can you do us this favour?”

he shrugged. “fine. when do you want me to do it?”

“now”, the duo spoke in unison, sharing a high five afterwards.

“now? we had plans, you know”, hyunjun pouted.

“you two can make out later”, felix smirked. “let’s get going, lovebirds.”

* * *

“you think he already got our answers?”

“eric, it’s been seven minutes _at most_, and less than two since you last asked that. shut up.”

the youngest rolled his eyes at hyunjun’s words. “why are you still in here anyway? no one is forcing you.”

“i don’t trust you two. i’m staying for bomin’s sake”, he sighed. they were sitting in a bench not too far from the teacher’s room, where bomin had moved to, waiting for his return. it was a nice spot to have a good look at its direction as well as nice space to run away if they end up busted, or if some teacher finds them not studying. “besides, he did say he’ll text you once it’s done? there is no need to be standing here doing nothing. it’s self-study time, go out, do crimes, be gay.”

felix frowned. “or _study_?”

“really?”, the oldest deadpanned. “so many things you two could do during self-study and you wanna study?”

“eric almost failed math! i wanna help him.”

“_almost _ failed!”, he raised his arms in a defensive way.

the older of the three didn’t look amused at the scene. he looked rather frustrated, ready to facepalm or snap. that didn’t make sense for eric, why was he acting like that when felix was just being his usual angelical and kind self? sure he wished he could tone it down a bit, his grades didn’t need a saving as much as the australian imagined. he was managing, it was fine. however, that didn’t seem to be hyunjun’s issue, who took a deep breath before speaking again. “youngjae-yah. how can you be so engrossed with your teacher’s love life while neglecting your own? i thought that by now you two would be an item.”

“_what_!”, he said in disbelief, voice loud as he laughed in embarrassment. but what surprised him the most was that, once he looked at his best friend, he didn’t seem shocked at all. he seemed… disappointed. “are you for real? please. ‘lixie, can you believe what he’s saying? out of nowhere too, haha”

the other shrugged, refusing to reply out loud. 

“_besides_”, the younger continued, cleaning his throat, “if there is someone who needs to be an item already it’s jisung and hyunjin. he was jealous he were getting attention from girls earlier today as if they would ever see hyunjin the same way as he did”, he rolled his eyes. “and how can hyunjin not see his best friend is pinning so hard on him?”

“i wonder”, hyunjun replied in a bored tone.

“can we please change the subject?”, felix asked nervously. eric didn’t get what was there to be nervous, but he still found himself nodding at that, returning to the main topic at hands: if their math teacher choi chanhee was _really _going to marry their history teacher, ji changmin.

which brought him to _now_. them sitting on a bench slightly far from their target, waiting for a sign from their student council president, or something else that could help their operation. and as soon as the thought hit his mind, he watched two teachers leave their room, and was surprised once he recognized them.

“yes, we can”, he nodded. “for example, we could talk about how the main character of our operation is talking to someone who isn’t bomin _ or _changmin-ssaem.”

“what?”, the older two boys said in unison, turning to stare at where eric had been focusing on. indeed, there was chanhee, walking a few steps from the teacher’s room and then stopping to talk to his companion who did not teach history but _ art_. everyone knew that kevin moon hyungseo - he hadn’t used his korean name when introducing himself, but once it became common knowledge most used it over his canadian name - was friendly to every single one of his coworkers, so seeing him with the devil wasn’t exactly odd. but it was odd to see him happy, laughing at the older’s conversation, looking so… normal.

“that teacher has friends. wow”, felix said after a while.

“it’s hyungseo-ssaem. that doesn’t count.”

hyunjun snorted. “come on, even _seungmin _has friends. don’t be so hard on our teacher.”

eric wanted to nod and agree, but it felt so weird. their math teacher was smiling too much, seemed too bright as he kept conversation going. and then he got a phone notification, maybe a call, and moved away. but before he could leave, he kissed the canadian’s cheeks.

he kissed their art teacher’s cheeks.

“oh my god”, he whisper-shouted. “chanhee-ssaem showing affection?”

“and to hyungseo-ssaem, out of all people?”, felix asked too. “i’ve never seen these two together, their classes aren’t one after the other too. that’s so odd to witness.”

“why didn’t bomin leave with them too?”, the younger pondered. “wasn’t he meant to ask chanhee-ssaem about his type?”

“maybe he got in trouble because of your dumb curiosity, and if that’s the case, i’m killing you both”, the older of the three rolled his eyes. “so you’re going to drop the whole operation thing _ now_?”

“don’t be naive, hyunjun-ah. this is a different lead. one that can prove the rumours wrong”, he sighed. 

felix’s mouth made a little ‘o’ form. “you’re saying that maybe the one chanhee-ssaem is marrying is hyungseo-ssaem?”

“the possibility is there”, he tilted his head as he put some thought in it. “that teacher is eccentric and a bit of a weirdo. maybe that would be enough for him to endure his devilish nature. but that doesn’t exclude changmin-ssaem, of course. we can’t rush things before being absolute sure about it”, the youngest sighed, then turned to his classmate. “but don’t you dare open your month about this regardless.”

“fine! i learned my lesson”, he huffed. “you should learn yours too. get a life and stop stalking teachers.”

“we aren’t stalking--”

felix’s words died down once he noticed that their art teacher had moved, and to make it worse, he was walking towards them. and he didn’t really happy to see them. “what are you kids doing here, instead of studying? lunch ended over an hour ago.”

eric gulped down, staring at his best friend and then at hyunjun and then back at felix. his two older companions were staring at him too, expecting him to say something smart to back them off, but it never came.

and, so, hyunjun sighed. “i’m waiting my boyfriend, and these two decided to keep me company. i told them there was no need and they could study without me but…”, he trailed off, glaring at them.

the canadian teacher nodded at his words. “yeah, indeed, i did saw bomin-goon chatting with changmin-ssi, something about their exams?”, he left a laugh. “he does know there are still weeks for that, right?”

“yes. he has every exam date carved into his brain.”

that made the older laugh even louder, amused at it. “i wouldn’t doubt. your boyfriend is a huge nerd. can’t say the same about you three though. you should be studying, regardless of the excuse. now off, you go.”

hyunjun looked offended at him. “ssaem, buy my boyfriend--”

“hyunjun-goon, you are not going to die if you stare at a book instead of him. now, please go.”

the other two students knew he wanted to refute it, but he just took a deep breath and nodded at the adult, doing as told. but not before giving a dark glare to them.

felix sighed and then smiled wide at his best friend. “i guess you can’t run from me anymore.”

he gulped down. “what do you mean?”

“our cover just got busted, which only gives us one option”, he smiled wider, leaning on the american’s arm and pulling him lightly. “you’re studying with me. _ no _excuses, no gossiping about our teachers.”

eric blinked at that. “but the operation isn’t over!”

“but we can’t do anything about it right now! come on, a couple of hours with me isn’t killing you.”

well, the older had a point, and he _ could _turn him down per se, it was easy to win over felix. but he quickly gave up. it wouldn’t be worth it and, well, it was more of a win if he stayed with him. even if he had to study, if he had to stay a bit too close to his best friend, and that his heart decided to beat faster than usual.

(maybe he’s allergic to studying. it would explain why every time he was alone with felix and books, he’d feel weird.)

* * *

\- [ operation discover who chanhee-ssaem is marrying to ] -

> _sohneric22 _ added _ goldenboymin _onto this chat
> 
> [ **goldenboymin **] you ever regret your life choices?
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] nop  
[ **sohneric22** ] nevr had tht emotion  
[ **sohneric22 **] so, bominie
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] we want the info
> 
> [ **sohneric22 **] spill teh tea🍵🍵🍵
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] spread the beans
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] on god.  
[ **goldenboymin** ] okay, so:  
[ **goldenboymin **] i have talked to our changmin-seonsaengnim during our self-study period.
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] wait.   
[ **sohneric22** ] we told u2 ask chanhee-ssaems abt his type tho 🙄🙄🙄
> 
> [ **freckledangel** ] :/
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] …i’m aware. however, he left early and considered that it’d be a waste to just leave after that  
[ **goldenboymin** ] so i talked to him instead.  
[ **goldenboymin** ] it’ll still help your, ahem. operation, no?
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] point taken, proceed
> 
> [ **sohneric22 **] . may bee.  
[ **sohneric22 **] but. bominah  
[ **sohneric22** ] no need 2 txt so perfectly p l s  
[ **sohneric22 **] its distrakting
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] shhh eric-ah let him type his way >:(
> 
> [ **sohneric22 **] 😔😔😔  
[ **sohneric22 **] id be liek tht smn times
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] thank you.  
[ **goldenboymin** ] as i was previously saying,  
[ **goldenboymin** ] i talked to our dearest history teacher, and has taken the following notes:  
[ **goldenboymin** ] point 1: he likes calmness in a partner, someone who would not panic when things get tough, and that he can rely on when it happens;  
[ **goldenboymin** ] point 2: he likes when his significant other is funny, but not when it’s forced, but when the person just happens to be really funny;  
[ **goldenboymin **] and, lastly, point 3: he likes when they make him smile and/or laugh easily, i’m assuming someone easy-going? but it could also be related to point 2. i wasn’t sure if i called this point 3 or point 2.5, but i kept as 3 in the end.
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] wow  
[ **sohneric22** ] those are rly detailed king  
[ **sohneric22 **] ty for ur services🤙
> 
> [ **freckledangel** ] before we discuss, can i just ask  
[ **freckledangel** ] like  
[ **freckledangel** ] you uhm.  
[ **freckledangel **] took notes? written down?
> 
> [ **goldenboymin **] …yes. 
> 
> [ **sohneric22 **] …we jst wanted t info tho 🤔🤔🤔
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] and that’s how i got the info. i don’t understand the shock.  
[ **goldenboymin **] i couldn’t start interviewing his love life right away, you two know it well.
> 
> [ **freckledangel** ] k point taken 2  
[ **freckledangel **] nd did he not suspect y u were asking?
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] i don’t think so.   
[ **goldenboymin** ] the conversation started about the subject he had taught in his last class and i casually asked questions about romance in between.  
[ **goldenboymin** ] and, so, while he thought i was writing things to study on i took these notes.  
[ **goldenboymin **] you might ask how i managed to do that, but fret not i shall tell you.
> 
> [ **sohneric22 **] uhm.
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] it was simple. i’ve used hyunjun as an excuse and asked about things he liked in a partner to make the relationship more lasting.  
[ **goldenboymin **] because, you know, i don’t want us to be just a high school romance, and all teachers know about our relationship.
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] awwwwwwwww das so kyoot :(
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] …thanks?   
[ **goldenboymin **] uwu.
> 
> [ **freckledangel** ] OMG HE UWU’D  
[ **freckledangel** ] IM SO SOFT  
[ **freckledangel** ] when will i get a bf like u bomin :(  
[ **freckledangel **] or gf or any gender tbh im not picky
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] pause  
[ **sohneric22** ] ok you gay for hyunjun nice wbk thats cute  
[ **sohneric22** ] but high school romance aside can we liek  
[ **sohneric22 **] lets go back at the operation???? u kno??? thats what the gc is 4???  
[ **sohneric22** ] 🤔🤔🤔🤔
> 
> [ **freckledangel** ] …so never  
[ **freckledangel **] anyway lets
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] by the descriptions bomin gave us  
[ **sohneric22 **] we all agree its impossible he likes chanheessaem rite?
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] y
> 
> [ **goldenboymin **] i mean. yeah, it’s the immediate and most logical conclusion.
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] ok. wer liek. half done  
[ **sohneric22 **] or mayb less. idk not a math gay 😜😜😜
> 
> [ **goldenboymin **] half…?
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] ye
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] love is not something easy to predict!  
[ **sohneric22** ] and just because one has a type it doesnt mean theyll only like this /type/ of person  
[ **sohneric22** ] for example i like cute people w bright smiles nd a love 4 animals  
[ **sohneric22 **] but what if one day i discover i have a crush on idk. someone like seungmin? ew
> 
> [ **goldenboymin **] i don’t think that’s going to happen. not right now at least. unlesss you’re the type of person who can have multiple crushes.
> 
> [ **sohneric22 **] …i’m sorry?
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] wow eric used ’ lol
> 
> [ **goldenboymin** ] regardless, i understand your point, eric.  
[ **goldenboymin** ] and if you two do need more of my services i will be glad to help a second time, but i suppose that for now i’m done here?  
[ **goldenboymin **] so i hope you two will succeed as your investigation continues.  
[ **goldenboymin **] now, if you two excuse me… 
> 
> _ goldenboymin _left this chat
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] wh??????  
[ **sohneric22 **] wt was tht abt??????
> 
> [ **freckledangel** ] hahaha no idea lololol that was sooooooooo weird
> 
> [ **sohneric22** ] its not even tht helpful we still dunno abt chanheessaem????  
[ **sohneric22** ] and where does hyungseossaem gets into dis???????  
[ **sohneric22 **] choi bomin isgt 😤😤😤😤😤
> 
> [ **freckledangel** ] anyway, we have teh infoh  
[ **freckledangel** ] some infoh, i mean  
[ **freckledangel** ] that could be of help  
[ **freckledangel** ] soooooooooo  
[ **freckledangel **] what now?

* * *

there was _ no _way that ji changmin could ever have a crush choi chanhee, let alone date him and marry him. based on his ideal type, that is. but feelings weren’t something easy to predict, you’ll never know when it decided to hit you and _bam_! you have a crush. eric knew it a little _ too _well, so, he knew that their operation was not near the end.

besides, there was a new lead for him. hyungseo-ssaem. just _how _close was he to their math teacher?

eric brushed it off, keeping himself quiet during his history class, trying his best to focus this time. he could bring it up later, after lunch, when he would meet with his best friend. now wasn’t the best moment to space out about his teachers’ love live. he was still a bit embarrassed over last time, hoping that the adult wouldn’t bring it up or give him any weird looks, demanding him to be more responsible and punctual, but none happened. instead, the student noticed that he had been a bit… less talkative. less bright, less attentive too. eric wondered that maybe changmin had had a bad day, since everyone was waiting for either him or chanhee to mention about the rumours. it has been an entire week of only silence from the two of them and everyone’s curiosity levels were high. or maybe he just woke up like that? or he forgot his wallet at home and couldn’t buy lunch. he knew if it was him, eric would have_ the worse _ day. so it could not even be related to his marriage.

but wait, weren’t marriages originally quite expensive and complex to come up with? his teacher could be tired with all the details. it could _ totally _be because of their engagement, just not the rumours.

his thoughts all floated away as the door to his classroom was opened, making everyone turn into its direction. “excuse me, changmin-ssi?”, he heard the voice of their math teacher and unconsciously gulped down. “i don’t want to be pushy but… your class should have ended almost five minutes ago. i’ve been waiting this whole time and didn’t want to intrude with your line of thought but i really can’t wait much more”, he finished by forcing a smile that was obviously fake. everyone could see the annoyance under it.

all students turned from staring at the door to staring at changmin, who seemed nervous at his words. “oh, i see. i must have miscalculated my time today”, he replied with a shy smile and it made eric concerned. it had never happened before, their history teacher was quite precise with his classes and never _ ever _finished his lecture early nor needed extra minutes to do so. “well, students, we’ll finish it next week.”

“are you not going to give us an assignment, ssaem?”, heejin asked as they watched him pack up his stuff. 

it seemed to get caught him off guard, realizing what he had done. or, well, forgot to do. “right. uhm, what was it?”, he scratched his head and then sighed, looking as his students again with another nervous smile. “well, this must be your lucky day. there won’t be any assignments this time.”

the girl’s face went down at those words, but most of her classmates were full of joy. changmin was a nice teacher but he was still one who took his job seriously. a day without any homework for the next class was pretty much rare. if it was any other day, eric would be joining them but, instead, he frowned and worried. he couldn’t help but think that something was fishy.

something was really not okay.

their history teacher left the class after a short farewell, not forgetting to politely nod at the other adult’s direction as he walked away. with his back to the teenagers, they couldn’t see his expressions, but chanhee’s was caught by the american and it only made everything much weirder. because he, who was forcing a smile and seemed pissed off not long ago, was tilting his head at his coworker with something that resembled… concern. not only that, but he touched the slightly younger’s arm in a comforting way, whispering something to him before they parted ways.

what was going on? were them really an item, or was that just a friendly act? what about their art teacher? _what was going on_?

“what happened to changmin-ssaem?”, seungmin asked once they met during lunch. “he got late in our class and seemed lost. it didn’t make sense, did something happen in your class?”

“no, he was odd from the start. i thought something was off too, he looked so tired even before entering the room. he didn’t even give us an assignment”, sunwoo pointed out. “not that i’m complaining, but. that’s unusual.”

“i think it has to do with all these rumours”, hyunjun said casually and that made eric stiff on his seat. “it did start a week ago, while he was in class. and by the way he reacted last week…”

felix pouted. “it can’t be that, right? he wouldn’t care much about children spreading dumb rumours that much.”

“yeah! it can’t be because of-- that. must be because of his marriage.”

hyunjun raised a brow at that. “what, what did bomin tell you?”

“bomin has gotten into this mess too?”, sunwoo frowned. “_our _ choi bomin? how did you manage to do that, eric sohn youngjae?”

“long story, you don’t want to know”, his boyfriend replied. unsurprisingly, his best friend was quick to drop it. he indeed didn’t want to know.

“he didn’t tell us anything that could explain his behaviour”, eric sighed. “what i meant is that marriages are tough. there are many things to consider, lots of money and dates and tryouts. it must be stressing.”

“then why isn’t chanhee-ssaem the same?”, seungmin pondered. 

felix rolled his eyes. “we did _ not _conclude if he really is marrying changmin-ssaem or not.”

“and that teacher is always stressed. something more into his plate won’t make a difference.” 

his best friend slapped sunwoo’s shoulder, but this time, he didn’t defend their math teacher. the american tilted his head, trying to think of something that would explain the adult’s behaviour. “doesn’t one side of the marriage gets more involvement into these things though? i think the wife’s family, or something like that?”

“they’re both dudes.”

“yes, _ obviously_, seungmin-ah. i know that. but still, maybe changmin-ssaem’s family is the one who is spending more with the decoration and the money part and that’s stressing him? or making him feel burdensome. who knows.”

“point is, we can’t assume it’s because of the rumours”, felix finished eric’s thoughts for him.

jisung, who was quiet until then, left a groan. “can we have one lunch where we don’t talk about our teacher’s love life? are you all this lonely?”

“are you really one to talk about loneliness, mister forever pining?”, hyunjun scoffed. “anyway, talking about that. where is hyunjin?”

“out. don’t know what for. once class ended and we were moving to the cafeteria yeji pulled him and stole him without even saying a word. and hyunjin didn’t even resist it! as if he knew she’d pull him out”, he frowned. “they’ve been hanging out a bit too much, it’s annoying.”

seungmin laughed at that. “you’re jealous of his_ twin sister_?”

the older stared at him. “of course not. but him hanging out with yeji meant him hanging out with her friends.”

felix pouted. “half of them are lesbians though.”

“not choi jisoo, she’s bi. you know who else is bi? hwang hyunjin. him bonding with yeji means him bonding with jisoo and they might fall in love after discovering they have so much in common. and then han jisung will be no more.”

“you’re unnecessarily dramatic. stop it”, sunwoo hissed. “there is no way she’s going to try to steal your man like that because them being both bi means nothing. you don’t see me flirting with hyunjin, do you? that has no logic.”

“doesn’t she like yeji anyway?”, seungmin pointed out.

“but if you’re _ this _threatened by her you could just confess to hyunjin already”, eric said nicely.

jisung glared at him. “i’m not hearing it from you.”

“fine then. felix, tell him.”

“you really thought you did something?”, seungmin asked laughing but soon changed his expression into a less amused one. “can we please drop the subject? let us not talk about our love lives or our teacher’s, it makes me sad.”

“why, because you’re painfully single?”

“yes, sunwoo, now drop it.”

the youngest at the table sighed, deciding to tone down his friends’ conversation as he distractedly looked to the side and finished his lunch. he was just spacing out, thinking about nothing at all as he ate, when he saw _him_. kevin moon hyungseo. the new character of his riddle, his second suspect and maybe the endpoint of his mystery. he wondered why he was not at the teacher’s room again, or having his own lunch. instead, he seemed to be walking across the cafeteria in a hurry to go somewhere. eric reasoned that it was none of his business, but once he appeared a second time, walking back to where he had come from and with _ changmin _this time, it tingled too much to ignore.

“felix, meet me at the library later”, he quickly said as he got up and walked towards the two. his best friend took a while to notice what he had said, his name being shouted once he already stepped far from their table. 

“kevin-ah, you don’t have to do this”, he heard the younger of the two teachers speak once he got close enough, and was taken aback at the informality. were they close? beyond just two coworkers? _ since when_?

“yes, i do. you need a break, you’re clearly too stressed with all of this.”

“chanhee sent you to check up on me, didn’t he?”, he asked with a harsh tone that eric didn’t know he had, clicking his tongue afterwards.

hyungseo probably didn’t expect it coming from changmin, by the way his face quickly dropped. but he refused to let it affect his actions and remained fierce. “_yes_, he did, because he’s worried for you, obviously. and i am too, so we’re visiting our nurse hyung and you’re resting, no complaining.”

“just because you’re his best man you don’t have to do everything he asks you to.”

_oh_. the student felt really bad for hearing their conversation, but deep down, he was glad he did. he had no idea the three of them were friends, that the art teacher not only already knows about their math teacher marrying but was his best man. suddenly them being close makes a _ lot _ of sense. “ji changmin, stop being so stubborn. yes, i’m _ his _ best man, but i’m also _ your _friend, and you’re not okay.”

“i just couldn’t sleep, that’s all. i’m fine.”

“only last night?”, hyungseo asked with a brow up to the history teacher. despite it being a question, though, it sounded like he already knew the answer.

he, in response, bit the inside of his cheeks. “okay, maybe i’m having trouble sleeping, but it’s haunting me, okay. marriage is tough, and this is why i wanted to keep it lowkey. i don’t go well with stress, you know me. and it’s even burdensome since these rumours started.”

eric gulped down as he felt his face burn in shame. okay, so it was mostly the rumours fault. or, well, they were making things _ worse_. he couldn’t help but feel bad that he had helped his favourite teacher get trouble resting.

in the meantime, the art teacher came closer to the younger and rested a hand on his shoulder. “hey, it’s going to be fine. you two love each other and you know you’re doing the right thing, right? so be calm about it and enjoy it. and, about the rumours, they’ll die soon. it’s just kids being kids.”

“i guess you’re right”, he sighed. “fine then, kevin-ah. i’m going to make a visit to younghoon-hyung.”

“thank you”, the canadian looked at him with a triumphant look. “but i’m serious when i said about resting. no chit-chat, you two.”

changmin rolled his eyes. “go back to work, kevin-ah. i’ll be fine.”

the student watched as his history teacher entered the school’s nursery, smiling brightly at the nurse’s direction. huh, younghoon was calm, oddly fun to be with. and, well, maybe hyungseo meant for him just to rest because his actual fiancée was behind the door.

oh, _wow_. he didn’t think twice before hurrying to the library, because his best friend would _love_ to hear his discoveries.

“what are you two doing in here?” was the first thing he said as he sat down beside his best friend. to his surprise, he was not alone: both bomin and hyunjun had been waiting for him alongside felix. 

“i wanted to know how is your mission going.”

“i’m just making him company.”

“and nothing i said made them leave.”

the american boy sighed at the couple, mirroring his friend’s tired face. “bomin-ah, maybe if you stayed in the group chat you would have the updates in first hand.”

“but i’m not part of your team, i was only an informer, and honestly, i’d like to remain not fully involved”, the student council president spoke calmly. “i’m just_ a bit_ curious, okay? it’s been a week and it feels like you’re still in the same place.”

“that is not true”, eric refuted. “although we did ask you to gather information about chanhee-ssaem and you got changmin-ssaem’s instead. but it’s fine, we managed to exclude two possible fiancées instead of one because of your notes.”

bomin tilted his head at that, furrowing his eyes. “_two_?”

“we started suspecting of hyungseo-ssaem these last few days”, felix explained for him. “but isn’t it too fast to already exclude him?”

hyunjun rolled his eyes at the mention of their art teacher, remembering what had happened the previous week, but refused to speak about it. eric didn’t pay him any attention. “yeah, but he’s _ definitely _not the fiancée. i just heard him talking about being chanhee-ssaem’s best man instead, so there’s no reason to keep him on the list.”

felix opened his mouth in surprise at that.“this keeps getting better and better. not only they’re friends but very close ones?”

“apparently. wild, right?”, he laughed at that.

bomin nodded his head, understanding and agreeing to that. “okay, one down. but what about changmin-seonsaengnim? he’s still an option as far as we know.”

“well… about him. i highly doubt it’s him too.”

“why so?”, the older asked him, and he did open his mouth to say it, but then it hit him. changmin already had too much stress from this dumb rumour that _ maybe _started because of eric himself. sure he had just told to two people, but those two people became four and then the entire school knew about it. he could tell him that their history teacher was actually engaged to their nurse, but that would just be yet another small start to something that would be out of his hands. 

so, he licked his lips. “i just have a lead that excludes him, one that makes sense from what you said his type is, but it’s not important. this is about discovering who chanhee-ssaem’s fiancée is, not about him. we shouldn’t go off track here.”

he was glad to see felix nodding at his words, backing him up. “so we are dismissing both hyungseo-ssaem and changmin-ssaem as his soon-to-be husband. that leaves us with _ nothing_. we just returned to where we started.”

“…sadly, yeah. i’m starting to think that his fiancée does not work at our school and we’re just running in circles.”

that made hyunjun react. “so you’re finally stopping your dumb hunt?”

eric turned to stare at felix, who also seemed slightly amused about the insinuation. he sighed. “maybe? this is starting to become pointless and quite bothersome too.”

“no, you can’t stop now!”

the three of them were taken aback by hearing bomin of all people raise his voice, and even, raise it inside the library. he cleared his throat, recovering his pose. “i mean, you can’t give up right now, after all we’ve discovered.”

“we?”, felix asked with a brow up. he was ignored.

“and sure, maybe his fiancée is not one of our teachers, but it’s just a possibility. when you saw changmin-seonsaengnim as a possibility you still tried your best to unravel the truth, right? what is stopping you _ now _that was not there before?”, he took a small breath. “okay, we can’t make the same type of questions to someone we don’t know but it’s not like we can’t get this information in another way.”

the table went silent at that, the other three staring at him as if he had just grown a second head or became a ghost. especially hyunjun, who kept blinking in confusion. “what’s gotten into you? are you really _ my _choi bomin?”

the slightly younger boy bit the inside of his cheeks, which were getting pinkish. “what, just because i’m this perfect student it doesn’t mean i am not a curious cat.”

“you’re having fun with these two dumbasses, aren’t you?”

“…maybe, okay”, he admitted. “stop judging me, babe, in the end i’m a human with odd likes too. the biggest question is how can _ you _have no interest over this mystery, hyunjun-ah?”

he shrugged. “i just really don’t care about school. at _ all_. except for its council president.”

eric caught himself laughing at how predictable his classmate could be. “fine then. we’ll try to get some more information about chanhee-ssaem’s fiancée this one last time, but you are going to help me.”

“fine by me”, bomin grinned at him with something that felt like the opposite of purity, and somehow, it didn’t look odd on him. “i did say i would be available if my services were once again needed.”

felix turned to his best friend’s direction. “so, i’m assuming it’s time for our plan b?”

“yes”, he said as he nodded. “plan b it is.”

“improvise part two?”

he turned to stare at the australian kid. “improvise part two.”

* * *

chanhee was _ not _going to marry hyungseo. the art teacher was his best man, and thus, there was no way that he could also be his fiancée. that was without a doubt final.

changmin wouldn’t be as bothered by the rumours if they were true, eric reasoned, and thus couldn’t be his fiancée either. especially after discovering his type, because chanhee did not check any of the requirements. even if sometimes love not being easily predicted by a simple list of idealizations, there was _ no _way that the one who taught history would marry someone so far from it when their nurse existed and most likely had a perfect score.

in theory, he could drag his best friend and interview the love life of every male teacher who was apparently single. in just one week they managed to exclude two very plausible possibilities, and it wasn’t like their math teacher was the greatest social butterfly. if his fiancée was indeed a coworker, they’d easily find it out. however, that could be very bothersome and even if they worked fast, it would still be longer than necessary. they could do it, but there was an option much faster, despite it being much, much scarier.

face the devil himself.

just thinking about it gave him a cold shiver and made him worry for his life. but they all had to admit it, it was the fastest and easiest way to get the remaining piece of information. it would be even more reliable, too, if it came from his own mouth. 

it was unpleasing, but it was the best idea. so eric gulped down the fear and, one day after the meeting he had with bomin and felix (and hyunjun, too, who was kinda there), put their plan into action.

_ improvise_.

it was p.e class, with all students running around the sports court either to attack with a ball in hands or run from said attack. eric was quickly eliminated, but totally not because he was bad at it. it was part of the plan. with the teacher’s attention on the game, no one would notice him sneaking out of the court and back into the building. as the head of the operation, and the only one who was in a different class, he was the one who would be giving the other two a signal to start with their plan. and, indeed, once he found himself next to the door of their classroom, he sent them a message.

> [ **sohneric22 **] we waiting 😂😂😂
> 
> [ **freckledangel **] istg… 

eric caught himself giggling to himself as he read his best friend’s reply, and soon after that, the classroom’s door was opened and felix was looking at him, rolling his eyes in disapproval. “i’m not even gonna ask.”

“it’s a meme.”

“i know, but it doesn’t fit the-- it’s whatever, let’s get going.”

the younger tilted his head. “isn’t bomin coming?”

“he said chris-ssaem could suspect two of us leaving one after the other even if he’s _the_ choi bomin. also it would be suspicious if we got caught in the teacher’s room and he’s with us after he interrogated changmin-ssaem last week, and during class, too?”

he sighed but then smiled at his best friend, resting an arm around his shoulders. “okay, that’s smart. so, it’s just us two this time, hmm?”

his best friend opened his mouth but no sound left it. instead, his freckled cheeks grew a hue of punk. _ huh_. “y-- yeah, of course. as it has been since it started, right? hahaha.”

eric decided to ignore his obvious fake laugh and nod. “sure. well, we better move before someone find us and questions us.”

he started walking as soon as felix nodded at him, his blush slowly fading. bomin, being both in the student council and a huge nerd who knew everyone’s schedule by heart, told them that the math teacher didn’t have any class at the current period, and that he often stayed on the teacher’s room to wait for the bell ring. there was a possibility that he could be accompanied by someone else who also had a free period at the same time, like their science teacher minho or the korean teacher jaehyun, but the chance of him being on his own was bigger, and thus, they could try talking to him. it was risky, and maybe they could bring chanhee’s devilish fury out.

still, it was their best plan. so he didn’t think twice before entering the room. he left a relief breath once he noticed that, indeed, the one they were looking for was on his own, a notebook in front of his on the table as he wrote on it, completely focused on his task. however, it was not enough for him to ignore the door opening, turning his attention to the two students, raising a single brow at them. “eric-goon, felix-goon. what are you two doing here? during classes, too?”

before the younger could come up with an excuse, felix was stepping forward and speaking on their behalf. “chris-ssaem forgot to bring our assignment paper to class, so he asked me to bring it.”

the teacher nodded but it was obvious that he wasn’t buying it. “and your friend, here? he’s on a different class.”

he flinched, watching as the taller turned to look at his direction as if to say _ it’s your turn_. “i was going to the restroom and crossed ways with felix.”

“i’m too weak to carry it all on my own, ssaem, look at my slim arms!”, he said with a forced pout, showing it to the adult to prove his point. “eric appeared to me like he was my godsend guardian angel.”

for some reason, he caught his cheeks burning at his words. why so, if it probably meant nothing? it was just a dumb excuse for their teacher to not kick them out. him who, despite nodding a second time and seemed to have been convinced this time, didn’t try to hold down a displeased frown. 

“fine then, i guess. go ahead and grabbed whatever you need.”

“right. uhm”, felix gave chanhee a polite smile. “do you happen to know which of these tables belongs to chris-ssaem?”

the older left a sigh at that - he had put his attention back into his previous task and apparently hated to be interrupted, especially multiple times a day - but after looking at the student's face his features softened. wow, felix really was an angel if even the devil relaxed by his presence. “it's the one behind you, two to the right, with the green lamp and the small wolf plushie.”

“thank you, chanhee-ssaem”, he bowed at his direction before moving towards the said table, eric right behind him. they watched as the adult man returned to focus on his notebook before speaking again. “how do we approach him? we can’t just ask.”

“and now we have to take some paper from chris-ssaem’s table otherwise our cover will be busted”, the american sighed, moving his fingers around the surface but without actually grabbing anything. which didn’t mean he couldn’t read what met his eyes, an specific item catching his attention as he travelled through the handwritten letters. “oh, wow, that teacher writes poetry?”

“hmm?”, his best friend looked down to where the other was staring at, seeing an open notebook with long texts in english. but the sentences were short, lots of space left empty, and the words rhymed. “wow. those are pretty. is it a romantic poetry? could be a love song too. it kinda has a rhythm when you read out loud, doesn’t it?”

“now that you mentioned it”, eric replied as he whispered the words. “how cute and sappy.”

“do you like cute and sappy things?”, felix suddenly asked, tilting his head. “you don’t seem to be the type.”

“really? i’m a sucker for these, though. i’m a hopeless romantic.”

“kinda hard to believe.”

he huffed, fake-offended. “hey, aren’t you my best friend? you should know it, you’re the one who knows me best.”

the slightly older stared at him and it was when it hit him that they were so close, shoulders against each other, and now that they were looking directly at the other’s face, he could feel felix’s calm breath hit his face. unconsciously, eric gulped down, and that made his friend stare down at him, maybe to his adam’s apple. or maybe to his lips. he wasn’t sure, but as quick as his eyes moved, they were back staring him on his eyes. “you’re not very expressive about your feelings though. i wouldn’t know that you’re a hopeless romantic if you didn’t tell me”, he said, expression blank, but then he was grinning. “it’s good to know, though. i will not forget that.”

he gulped a second time, nervousness hitting him as the heat on his face raised. “wh- why would you-- want to know _ that_\-- you can drop it-- it’s nothing important anyway. just forget it.”

“but you were slightly butthurt that i didn’t know it before”, the other teased, his smirk never leaving his face. “how can i drop it now that i do?”

“y-- yeah, but just because--”

before he could continue his excuse, the duo heard a phone ring. they would have ignored it and return to their original task but then it stopped. “yes, darling, what do you want?”

their math teacher had turned around his chair, back to the two students. his voice was quiet, but considering the quietness inside the room, it was still clear. “did he just speak with the softest tone ever?”, eric questioned out loud.

“i think he did. oh my god.”

if someone had told them that choi chanhee could have such a honey voice, a calm, soothing tone, they wouldn’t have believed. the voice wasn’t too different from the tone used when talking to the teenagers, it was still his voice, but the tone just made it much different. 

even the devil could be whipped and in love, huh?

“love, are you kidding me? you want a date, now? have you forgotten i still have work to do?”, chanhee spoke in a frustrated tone, however, it had no strength in it. it wasn’t the same as to when he threatened to make his students stay in class after it ended. it was a bark but one that meant nothing. there would be no bite afterwards. “well, not everyone can have free wednesdays. why don’t you make good use of it and sleep it off? you do need a break. what? yeah, i did get some of our stuff and took it on my hands. no, no, don’t worry about me, i am not overworking myself”, he spoke softly but then left a quiet groan. “no, baby, i _won’t_ die without seeing your stupidly cute face for a couple hours. i will die if i try to sneak out of work, though. and unlike you, i like my job. i’d like to keep it.”

“he likes his job?” felix whispered.

“he must have said that he likes _having_ a job. we must have misheard it.”

“that makes more sense.”

chanhee laughed at something his lover said. “no, don’t say that. it’s fine, after work i can go meet you, but later, okay? for now i have to wait for my last class. yeah, i know, it’s fine. sure. love you,_ babe~_. yeah, yeah, bye.”

the teacher turned around on his chair, a sweet look on his face. god, could he do that? smile cutely? _lovingly_? eric couldn’t believe his eyes.

but it soon faded as he opened his eyes, his familiar frown growing as he noticed that he was being watched. “what? you two done with getting whatever chris-ssi asked you to?”

they shared a nervous look. “we’re going to get going soon, ssaem. we just need to take it and go, yeah-- haha.”

his expression remained tense. “…right. do that, then please leave.”

the duo politely bowed at him, who made a confused face and looked once more to his belongings. they faked grabbing something from the english teacher’s table, which were actually just a bunch of blank paper for printing, and quickly left the teacher’s room, walking fast but not too much to grab attention to themselves.

they walked way past the hall, far from their previous location, just to be sure. they didn’t want to be caught by the math teacher if he happened to leave the room too.

“chanhee-ssaem’s fiancée doesn’t work on wednesdays? that’s _ huge_!”, eric said in a whisper-shout once he was certain there was no way they’d be found. “that’s the final evidence we needed.”

felix nodded. “no teacher in the world wouldn’t work on a weekday.”

“right. he must be someone with more flexible hours.”

“or his own boss”, the youngest added. “like a freelancer.”

“either way, it’s impossible that he is someone who works with our school, or really, any school.”

“which means…”

“he’s not marrying any teacher”, he finished. “chanhee-ssaem’s fiancée is someone from outside. it’s as far as we can go. it’s over, eric.”

he smiled to his best friend in agreement. “it’s over, felix. this mystery is over.”

* * *

it was over. 

eric sighed in relief, glad that the mystery was solved. operation discover who chanhee-ssaem was marrying to was no more. he had concluded that there was _ no _way in heavens they were, indeed, marrying each other. even if the entire school believed otherwise. pretty much because of himself, yeah, but they were at wrong while he wasn’t. 

(he would never admit it, though, that it all had started because of _himself_. in his mind, it was ninety nine percent hyunjun’s fault, with the remaining one percent that belonged to seungmin).

he felt proud of himself that he had the truth. the truth that his fiancée was not changmin and that it _also_ wasn’t hyungseo. his fiancée was probably not even a teacher, impossible for _any_ student to discover without questioning the math teacher or stalking him, and only one person knew it, which was himself. well, actually two: it was only him _and felix_, of course, who have helped him gather all needed information to reach such truth. but it was fine, soon it would become common knowledge. he just had to wait for either of them to announce their marriages, introduce to their students their fianceés, and everyone but the two of them would be blown away. it would be fun to watch. 

“students, before we end class and i leave”, changmin said with a grin of his smile, “i have a small announcement to do. i think you were all waiting for that and i’m not exactly sure how it blew up in the way it did. but, yes, i’m getting married.”

_ there we go_, eric thought, grin on his lips. 

“your math teacher, chanhee-ssi, and i have been not so publically dating for nearly four years now and we have decided to take this new step together and get married. and that’s going to happen in a couple of months from now.”

yeah, yeah. 

wait. 

“_what_!”

that made everyone stare at him and it hit him he had said it out loud-- or worse, he had _ shouted _ it, and now the class attention was on himself. their history teacher included. 

the adult coughed at that, trying his best to ignore his student’s outburst. “well, we hadn’t planned on making it public, not like that i guess. but, since the rumours, it was hard not to, so. might as well admit it, right?”

“that doesn’t make any sense”, eric caught himself saying, everyone turning to him a second time. “isn’t ssaem’s type someone calm? unintentionally funny? someone who will make you laugh and smile without many efforts?”

“how do you--”, changmin started, frowning at him. but then brushed it off. “well, _ yes_. and chanhee-ssi checks it all out.”

“impossible”, a classmate of his said out loud while he remained speechless, to which many agreed. the teacher laughed at that. 

“i guess you kids don’t know him the way i do”, he kept laughing. “which is _ very _understandable. anyway, the announcement has been done and i still have one more class before lunch, so, if you will excuse me”, he finished his speech, grabbing his stuff and leaving. 

sunwoo slapped the american’s shoulder as soon as they were left adult-less. “what is wrong with you? after the whole operation discover whatever thing i thought you would be certain of it more than anyone.”

“especially since you got it all in first hand”, hyunjun smirked teasingly at him too. 

he didn’t want to believe it, shaking his head furiously, a hand resting on his fluffy hair. “it doesn’t make sense. everything we gathered signed for them being just friends _ at most_. i don’t get it.”

“maybe it’s the cue for you to stop butting in other people’s issues”, the oldest deadpanned. “there are better things to do on your senior year.”

“yeah. have you thought of studying?”

hyunjun frowned. “not that. go get a boyfriend.”

he shrugged. “i guess sunwoo is right. i should study.”

“thank you.”

“fine, nerd, go study then”, he rolled his eyes. “but do it with felix, like you promised him. and then ask him out. and date him.”

“stop trying to make us become a couple”, the youngest sighed. “i doubt it’s ever gonna happen.”

sunwoo tilted his head to stare at him. “if you never try it, you’ll never know.”

“listen to my best friend, eric-ah. he’s smart.”

he caught himself scoffing at that, but he kind of… had a point. but making a move was so scary. he didn’t want to ruin their friendship, you know? it was too valuable for him to risk it all. 

before he could say anything else, though, their math teacher entered the classroom. he hadn’t noticed that his classmates had been quiet enough for him to enter, especially after the bomb dropped by the previous teacher. he was expecting them to be excited and loud that the rumours had been confirmed. but he supposed it was better like this. 

“i’m assuming changmin-ssi have already shared the not-so-new news to you all, so”, he cleared his throat. “i’m only accepting questions about the subject. anything else, i’ll be holding you in class and your lunch will be shorter”, he forced a smile at his students, one that looked really threatening. “are we clear?”

“yes, sir”, eric and his classmates echoed in unison. 

_ what did changmin see in him?_

* * *

“you were right”, hyunjin told him as he sat down during lunch. “not gonna lie, i was expecting them to deny it. but in the end you did have a point.”

“i was _ not _ right, back then it was a dumb guess. and after further investigation i went into the _ wrong _direction”, he answered, poking his meal with the pair of chopsticks in hands. “when we heard him talk to his fiancée on the phone he said to chanhee-ssaem to leave his work and have a date with him. it was nearly eleven in the morning, wouldn’t that interfere with changmin-ssaem’s work too, at class?”

“changmin-seonsaengnim only has very early class at wednesdays so he is free after ten a.m.”, bomin’s voice came into their ears. usually he would eat on his own, a book in front of him as he devoured his meal. but that day, hyunjun dragged his boyfriend onto their table and forced him to have a break from his studying. 

he holded down a cuss. “well, _that_ explains it. i didn’t put much thought about it because we had already concluded that there couldn’t be an item. god, i’m so stupid.”

“don’t beat yourself over that”, felix told him with a smile. “even if we were mistaken it was quite fun in the end, so it’s fine.”

“you’re kidding me”, the student president council spoke again. “you call that _fun_? it was boring. i felt used by you two and we, in the end, got it wrong. it was a waste of time!”

“you just say that because we interrupted your make out session that one time--”

“_felix lee yongbok, i told you to forget about it!_”, the older hissed in a high pitched voice as he blushed heavily. “and why are you laughing, hyunjun-ah? you should be _ protecting _me, you know, your boyfriend.”

“aww, my baby wants to be babied, _ ujjujju_”, he joked as he pinched one of his cheeks, then kissing his lips quickly. “don’t stress too much about these two, it’s not worth it. they’re dummies.”

“thanks, friend”, eric forced a smile. “this is why i like sunwoo more than i like you.”

“likewise.”

sunwoo rolled his eyes. “whatever, i like jisung better than you both combined.”

the younger boy, who was previously chatting with hyunjin and seungmin, turned around to stare at them. “what are you all talking about?”

“favourites”, it was felix who answered him. “between us, who is your favourite?”

“easy. it’s hyunjin.”

“he was _ not _ one of the options”, sunwoo groaned right away. “its between hyunjun, eric or me.”

he stared at the three of them carefully and then shrugged. “i’d still pick hyunjin.”

“gay”, seungmin added, drinking his box of apple juice calmly. 

“pansexual, actually, but i’ll take it.”

felix high fived him. “we’re the best people out there.”

“this is homophobia”, hyunjun frowned. “bomin is the best person in the entire planet and he’s gay.”

“you don’t have to defend me every time, babe”, his boyfriend spoke in embarrassment, although he was _ clearly _ pleased with the compliment. 

there was one person in their group who remained quiet as they talked, and eric saw it, grinning at the older. “come on, hyunjin-ah. jisung basically admitted his crush on you and you aren’t going to respond him?”

the younger of the two opened his mouth, probably to deny him by leaving out a very obvious excuse. but apparently he decided against it, at least this one time, staring at his best friend. he, who was now blushing and looking back at jisung, trying to process what the oldest at the table had told him. “you have a crush on me?”

he cleared his throat. “well. yeah, obviously. guess it wasn’t as obvious as i thought, huh”, he left a nervous laugh. 

“i thought you said i’m your favourite because we’re besties.”

“that wouldn’t be wrong but it’s not only… it”, he sighed. “it’s fine if you don’t feel the same, there are more interesting people out there anyway, no need to explain it, i just don’t wanna make things awkward between--”

“go to prom with me”, hyunjin blurted out. 

he blinked at that, easily blushing at his words. “…we already were going to.”

“as best friends. go to prom with me”, the older trailed off, holding jisung’s hand, “as my _boyfriend_.”

he looked down, staring at the two hands that just fit together well. eric caught himself softening up on his seat. young love was always so pleasing to look at, and since there was only one couple on their group of friends, he was not tired to witness it. he adored seeing people falling in love and confessing.

but he was probably the only one who thought so. seungmin frowned at the two of them, who were by his side, and hyunjun pretended to be puking. at least felix kept his displeasure to himself, trying to contain his face expressionless.

“just say yes, dumbass”, sunwoo rolled his eyes. 

jisung caught himself laughing at that, the magic that made them both hypnotized on the moment suddenly broken, now very aware that they had the other six boys around them, watching their interaction. “yes, hyunjin. i’ll go to prom with you as your boyfriend.”

the older grinned at him, clearly excited about it. “can’t wait then.”

“they’re so cute”, eric said out loud. “kiss! kiss! _kiss_!”

the duo stared at him, and then at the rest of their friends. the younger cleared his throat before speaking. “maybe when you guys look away or stop being so damn creepy about it i could try kissing my boyfriend. it feels weird to have you all staring at us.”

everyone shared glares between each other and then laughed at his suggestion. “you really think they’re gonna do that?”, it was sunwoo who asked him, brow up.

“i will, if it makes them uncomfortable”, bomin shrugged.

“do you not get tired of being so polite and kind?”

jisung rolled his eyes, pulling hyunjin by their linked hands. “if you won’t stop looking then we’ll get away from your eyes.”

“just don’t go to the library for that”, eric grinned, earning a complaint from bomin.

“can’t believe those two got together before dumb and dumber”, the oldest at the table pointed out. “it’d be like that sometimes, i guess.”

“who are dumb and dumber?”, the american asked as he turned to his classmate. his response was a glare from the older. “what? hyunjun, who are they?”

“you can’t be _ that _oblivious”, felix said in a quiet, almost sad tone.

he didn’t get what his best friend meant by that. “what do you…?”

“i am _ not _witnessing this”, hyunjun sighed. “hey bomin, self-study will start soon. meet me in the foreign languages section of the library when you can”, he said with a wink, getting up and leaving the cafeteria. 

seungmin frowned. “that was gross. he _does_ know we know what that means, right?”

“sadly, yes”, sunwoo sighed.

in the meantime, the student council president blushed hard. “i guess i’ll just. you know. go study a bit. yeah.”

they all watched as he hurriedly left too, seungmin scoffing at the scene. “he even left his lunch unfinished. i can’t believe these two.”

“guess love changes a person”, sunwoo pointed out.

“gross. at least everyone who remained here is single.”

eric frowned. “but aren’t any of curious about what hyunjun said? who is this dumb and dumber he mentioned?”

“here we go again”, the three of them said in unison.

in the meantime the younger stared at them. “do any of you have a crush on someone?”, he asked, waiting for any of them admit it. but, instead, he was met with three pair of eyes staring back at him, which made him sigh in frustration. “felix. we have a new mission in hands. operation discover who dumb and dumber are--”

“oh my god, eric-ah, you’re _ so _ dumb”, was his response, shutting him up in surprise. “the dumbest. he meant _ us_, mister dumber.”

“what? what do you--”

“eric, i have a fat crush on you, okay? have been silently pinning on you since somewhere in between sophomore year, and i’ve been sending you signals since the year started. but you never noticed any of them! it’s so _ frustrating_”, he groaned at that, trying to calm down. “i thought that if i helped your dumb operation thing and spent more time with you you’d get a grip, but you didn’t. and you sometimes gives me such mixed signals but i didn’t know if i was reading too much or not, especially since you started saying us being an item was nonsense. but no, it’s not, and i like you! very much! way too much”, he ended weakly this time, looking away shyly.

the american stared speechless at him.

he wondered if it would be too absurd to ask for the other to pinch him, or for him to pinch himself in front of him. because how could this not be a dream? he was trying so hard to not acknowledge his feelings for felix, mostly for their friendship’s sake, because there was no way he’d like him more than a bestie. but there was him, telling the opposite.

it had to be a dream. there was no way this was real life--

“are you not gonna say anything?”, he whispered after a while.

eric gulped down, waking up from his trance. his voice has been quiet, but his tone sounded so hurt it made him realize that, no, it was _not_ a dream. it really was happening and if he didn’t say anything it would _really_ damage their relationship. if he stayed quiet it’d be the same as turning him down, and turning him down would be a lie who would only create this tension between them. he should be as honest as felix had been. “i like you too, felix. i just-- i didn’t want to accidentally destroy what we already have by telling you that, though. and i thought you’d never like me back, so i concealed my crush down.”

“you really _are_ the dumber of us both”, the older scoffed. “you’re too likeable for me not to crush on, come on. you’re friends with everyone and i can assure you, most of them have or once had a crush on you.”

“fine, i know i’m not that much of an awful individual, okay”, he shook his head a bit so his hair would move a bit. felix laughed at that. “it doesn’t mean i don’t have insecurities though. i had imagined you wouldn’t like someone who is as childish as me, who is overly excited over anything and so outgoing.”

“i like that about you, though. you’re pretty much a cute puppy.”

at that the younger boy flustered. “_stop~_.”

“i’m for real though! you’re as adorable as one. as small too.”

“…and you just ruined it.”

he had pouted at his last words, but once the sound of felix’s laugh hit his ears he let it go. “well, lunch is done and you still owe me some studying sessions.”

eric groaned at that. “do we have to study? we just confessed to one another and you want to study? can’t we go out or something, like normal couples?”

“oh so we _are_ a couple now?”

“i mean. if you want to.”

the australian smiled wider at that. “of course i do, silly. but the answer about hanging out still is no. you said you’d study after the whole teachers marrying thing, and it ended. now come on, if you do well i’ll buy you an ice cream.”

at that, he jumped out of his seat with a wide grin on his face. “i’m sold! i’ll study harder than choi bomin has ever studied in his entire life!”

felix gave him a funny glare but it wasn’t caught by his best friend - and, well, now boyfriend - who was running ahead of him. he nodded at the ones still sitting and said his farewells before he left as well.

“finally”, seungmin rolled his eyes as the duo left the table, finally speaking after having to witness the scene literally in front of his eyes. “it was suffering to see their pinning. these two _and_ jisung’s over hyunjin, _please_. these gays who have obvious crushes and do nothing about it…”, he sighed at that. “it sucks being single and not approachable.”

“tell me about it”, sunwoo nodded in agreement. “why is everyone falling in love and getting boyfriends all over the school? life is so unfair.”

“if only there was someone in this school as sassy as i am.”

“and sarcastic.”

“someone who wouldn’t get butthurt for a little bit of venom on my tone.”

“and would actually answer back in a similar tone.”

seungmin sighed, and seconds later, so did sunwoo. they stayed like that for a few seconds, sitting side by side in silence and refusing to move or add any other word. until, that is, the younger of the two decided to turn around, staring at the other who, for his surprise, had turned to stare at him as well. it seemed that they had thought of the same thing at the same time. 

“hey, sunwoo.”

“what?”

“are you busy this saturday?”

“depends. what for?”

“wanna go to the pc bang and play something?”

he stared at the younger. “and why would i do that?”

“so i could kick your ass at pubg”, he grinned at that. “and also so we could bond as two sassy and sarcastic single men.”

sunwoo raised a brow at that, considering his offer. “the loser pays for the other’s meal?”

seungmin smiled wider. “deal.”

“wait.”

“what is it this time, eric-ah?”

“when chanhee-ssaem was on the phone he said that unlike his fiancée he liked his job. so, changmin-ssaem hates us?”

the older stayed silent for a while, until he started laughing at him. “god, how does your brain _ function_? is this what you’re thinking about when i’m trying to put some algebra onto that head of yours? that was weeks ago!”

“hey, we’ve been in here for nearly two hours now! it’s too much for me, i’m starting to space out and it suddenly hit me.”

“…fine. let’s have a break, then.”

“really? thank _ god_”, eric said as he stretched his arms, falling down on the bed where he was previously sitting on. he had his eyes closed but, by the way the surface moved, he could tell felix had fallen beside him. and it had been proven to be the case once he opened his eyes, staring at his boyfriend’s eyes.

boyfriend. he loved calling him like that, rather than best friend. sure he could be both, but the former had a special magic that made him warm. he liked it better.

“hey”, he heard the older whisper with his low voice. “you come here often?”

“yeah, i’d say every other day.”

“how curious, me too.”

“this is your house, felix.”

“shut up, i was flirting.”

he rolled his eyes. “boring.”

“you’re boring.”

“what’s the use of flirting like that if we could just be making out? it saves steps.”

“weren’t you supposed to be the hopeless romantic?”

eric glared at him. “you call this being romantic.”

“i mean, yeah. i was going to try to win you over.”

“what for? i’m already yours.”

felix opened his mouth to say something but, instead, he turned red. “shush. _ i’m _the one flirting here.”

he left a quiet laugh at that, his boyfriend soon laughing again. and once it died down, he moved forward, resting his lips on felix’s. “i love you, dummy.”

“i love you too, dumber.”

**Author's Note:**

> [prompt original post](https://twitter.com/thepromptz/status/952177957698600961) | [about me carrd](https://heecheondo.carrd.co)  
while you're here, do support their latest comeback with [d.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvBtO8hCv5w)d.[d](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTTczRe-Pj0)!
> 
> funfact: the doc of this fic was "kyunyu but without kyunyu"


End file.
